Ranma: Senshi of the Moon
by Mykon1
Summary: Ranma is the reincarnated Moon Princess. His/her approach to the menace of the Negaverse is quite different than Usagi's.
1. Chapter 00 Prologue Talking to Oneself

Ranma: Senshi of the Moon

A Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon Crossover Fan Fiction

By Michael A. Ivins

What was that? You say I don't own Ranma or Sailor Moon? Are you sure?

Oh, all right! If you insist!

I am just a poor fanfic writer playing around with other people's characters and I make no money off doing so. There, I said it! Are you happy?

Timeline Notice: This takes place after the failed wedding in Ranma's part of the world and at the very beginning of Sailor Moon. Other inconsistencies will be explained in the story itself.

Prologue

Talking to Oneself

Or

A Meeting At the Gates of Time

Sailor Pluto, A.K.A. Meiyoh Setsuna, was not a happy woman. Nothing was turning out like it was supposed to and she didn't know what she could do to correct it. Her frustration was getting to the point where she was starting to wonder if there might be a therapeutic benefit to using the Time Key Staff to smash small objects.

This was her mood when she looked at the Gates of Time and instead of seeing the portion of timeline she wanted to view she saw what appeared to be her own face. In a sour tone, Setsuna of the present demanded, "What the hell do you want? Are you here to taunt and tease me with vague hints of what future events are coming up?"

Future Setsuna grinned and asked, "What, not happy to see me? I've got some important things to tell you. Do you mind if I drop in for a chat?" Considering that she could easily remember being on the receiving end of this meeting, she was enjoying being the one from the future this time.

Showing the level of her frustration, present Pluto growled, "Oh by all means, drop. Chat. It's not like I don't already have enough headaches."

The view changed from just the future Pluto's face to her whole body and she stepped out of the Gates. One of the problems that Pluto of the present had with visits from her future self was that she rarely knew how far in the future this particular aspect of herself had come from. It could be from a week later or thousands of years. Since she was immortal and always wore the same sailor fuku, the appearance of her future self gave no clue.

The future version of the Guardian of the Gates of Time walked up to the current one and looked around. She said, "This could take a while. Do you really want to be standing for the whole time?"

(A.N.: For the rest of this prologue I will refer to current Pluto as Pluto C and the future one as Pluto F.)

"Fine!" Pluto C growled. She conjured a couch and flung herself down on one end. Pluto F seemed to be highly amused by her counterpart's show of petulance as she moved to take a seat on the other end of the couch.

Pluto F smiled as she chided, "Setsuna, there is really no need for this attitude. A woman of your years shouldn't be displaying such childish behavior."

"When the only person who sees it is another version of myself, why should I care if I behave like a child?" Pluto C challenged.

"You have a point, I suppose," the future version calmly conceded. "There really is no need this time. The reason I came here at this time was not to tease you about things that are coming in the future. I am here to explain those things in the past and the present that you currently find so confusing and frustrating."

"What?"

Pluto F sighed and said, "Part of the problem is that we are in an alternate timeline here, not the main one."

That finally cut through the frustration and anger that Pluto C was feeling. If she, and by extension this future version of herself, were experiencing a different version of the events she had come to expect, that would go a long way toward explaining why things were not happening as she had expected.

"Let me summarize the problems that you perceive right now," Pluto F offered. For a change she sounded reasonable instead of acting like it was all a big joke. "The Senshi were reborn decades later than they should have been. By your estimate they should have been reborn in the late 1960's so they could fight the Negaverse in the 1970's. Instead they were reborn in the early 90's. Even with that, the Negaverse is not starting their attacks until the girls are aged 17 and 18 when you estimated they should have only been 14 when they were Awakened. Am I correct so far?"

Pluto C nodded. She would expect her future self to know this, since she was the same person and had experienced all of this before.

Pluto F continued, "One of the most frustrating aspects for you is that you can't find the princess. The one who is to be Sailor Moon has eluded you for all of the time you have been searching for her, even though you are sure she would have been reborn by now. You wonder how the Senshi will be able to fight if they don't have their leader, even one as clumsy as you believe Moon to be."

"You had a false alarm a couple decades ago when you found a girl who resembled the Princess. You thought she was that blonde girl, Tsukino Usagi, but she wasn't the one bearing the soul of Princess Serena."

Pluto C was growing impatient with all of this rehashing of events. "Would you just get to the point? Since you are me, you are aware that I know all of this."

"Yes, I am aware, but I also know you never bothered to sum it up like this," Pluto F pointed out. "Now that you know this is an alternate timeline, you have at least a partial explanation as to why so many events seem to be different or delayed. As far as being unable to find the Princess, the reason is that you have been looking in the wrong place and for the wrong person."

Her scowl deepening, Pluto C fired back, "Alright, I could grant you the wrong place, if she was born and grew up someplace other than Azabu-Juuban, but what the hell do you mean by the 'wrong person'? And if she's not in Juuban now, then where the hell is she?"

"Oh the princess _is_ in Juuban now, but has only been there for a few months," Pluto F explained. "As for what I meant about 'the wrong person...' Well, you have been looking for a blonde haired girl, like that Usagi. The current incarnation of the Princess doesn't look like her Silver Millennium self."

"But..." Pluto C was startled. What she had just been told shouldn't be possible. She paused and thought. "I don't understand. The rest of the Senshi look like their past selves. Why wouldn't the Princess?"

With a shrug the future Guardian of Time said, "As far as the whole of why, I can't say. I made friends with a goddess who explained to me that in this timeline there were tasks that the one bearing the soul of the Princess needed to perform as ordained by destiny. These were tasks which had to be completed before taking on the guise of Sailor Moon."

"You made friends with a goddess?" Pluto C wasn't sure what to think about that. It meant that she herself would make friends with one or more goddesses in her own future. In the past she had always tried to stay away from divine beings because they generally were immune to the Gates and time manipulation that could be performed though them.

Feeling irritated, she pushed that thought to the side. Pluto C asked, "And has the Princess completed these tasks?"

"Oh yes," Pluto F replied. "The tasks have been completed and helped to make our Princess a _much_ stronger person."

The older version of the Guardian of Time had waited for her younger self to process that revelation before she dropped her next bombshell. "In this timeline the Princess was reborn as a boy."

"A boy!" Pluto C was gaping. "But that's impossible! The Queen would have seen to it with the spell she cast to send the souls into the future!"

"You really need to review the situation that happened in the Gates," Pluto F advised. This was so much fun. "I will tell you now, but check on it later to verify it for yourself. After sending you to watch the Gates, sealing Beryl and her minions in that pocket universe we call the Negaverse and sealing the cats in their stasis pods, Queen Serenity was so weak and disoriented that she couldn't properly formulate the safeguards for the spell. She managed it for most of the Senshi, but for her daughter she didn't set the specifications that the Princess' reborn form would be a virtual copy of her Silver Millennium appearance and sex."

"But..."

Pluto F spoke on over the objections that Pluto C tried to voice, "Without those specifications being set, the Princess' soul was reborn into the proper timeframe, but subject to all of the normal rules of reincarnation. I will give you the explanation that I remember hearing from my future self. I later looked it up to confirm it, and so will you."

"In the great cycle of Death and Rebirth there is no such thing as a male or female soul," Pluto F stated. She sounded like she was quoting from something she had read or heard. "For most mortals, they will be male in some of their incarnations and female in others. It serves to give a soul greater balance in their evolution and aid them in eventually passing on to a higher plane."

"Higher plane?" queried Pluto C.

The older version rolled her eyes and with a shake of head, advised, "Don't ask. I've been told that the so-called higher plane is beyond the understanding of mere mortals or even immortals like you and me. I theorized that the higher plane was some sort of god-like existence, but the gods and goddesses I've met claim that not even they can understand it. It can give one a nasty headache just trying."

Pluto C shook off further speculation on what was just said, and pressed on about more practical matters. "If the Princess was reincarnated as a boy, then he won't be able to access the powers of a Senshi. This could be a disaster!"

"It won't be a problem," soothed Pluto F. "A goddess who owed me a favor made sure of that. Have you ever heard of Jusenkyo?"

Frowning, Pluto C thought for a moment. Finally she said, "Do you mean the cursed training ground in China? If I remember right, they are springs of magic water that bestow a shape shifting curse on those who fall in."

"Exactly right. The boy who carries the reborn soul of the Princess was a martial artist who visited the valley as part of a martial arts training journey," Pluto F explained. "The favor that I was granted made sure that he fell into the Spring of Drowned Girl. The requirement that only a woman can be a full Senshi will still allow someone who is only a girl part time to access the power. After Awakening he can be the equivalent of a Planet Knight when male and a full Senshi when female."

"What about the reincarnation of Prince Endymion?" asked Pluto C.

"Oh, he's been reborn, but don't expect the Princess to get married to him," advised Pluto F. "Our Prince/ss has already met him and thinks he's a jerk. I understand that happened in the main timeline, but there she fell in love with him anyway. It's something of a pity because he didn't treat her all that well."

"Possibly as a side effect of having been born male in her current lifetime, the princess of our timeline is heterosexual as a male and a lesbian as a female," Pluto F reported, sounding amused again. "I believe she is currently interested in the reborn Sailor Mars. I recall looking in the Gates and finding that the two of them had an affair back in the Silver Millennium."

Grinning hugely and chuckling, Pluto F next said, "Don't expect this incarnation of the princess to be a whining crybaby like the one on the main timeline. No, this version is a trained martial artist and a blooded warrior, fully capable of kicking butt and taking names. Less than a year ago he/she killed a phoenix demigod in defense of a loved one,"

"Killed a phoenix demigod?" Pluto C echoed.

Making a dismissive gesture with her hand, Pluto F clarified, "Technically the being killed was a mortal with the power of rebirth, effectively making him an immortal. It seems that was enough for the local bird people to call him a god."

Pluto C's anger returned. "Even when you come to give full disclosure you still take forever to get to the point. What is the name of this paragon of martial arts skill and strength?"

"Oh, you have already met him," Pluto F said with a grin. "He goes to the high school where you work, after all."

Pluto F waved her Key Staff at the Gates and an image formed. It showed a handsome teenaged boy. The boy was of medium height and a build that was muscular without a lot of bulk. His hair was black and worn in a braided pigtail. He had blue eyes. He was dressed in a Chinese style red silk shirt and black drawstring pants with the ankles tied.

"You say I've met him?" Pluto C sounded unsure. "He looks slightly familiar, but that's all."

"You will recognize this version," said Pluto F as she waved the staff again. The image changed to a shorter, busty red haired girl, dressed in a Juuban High School uniform. Her hair was in exactly the same style as the boy had worn and her eyes were the same piercing blue. It seemed evident that she was shorter than the boy had been, but there was the same indication of lean, hard muscle beneath the feminine curves. Her stance and carriage showed clear evidence of martial arts training.

Eyes going wide, Pluto C exclaimed, "That's Tsukino Ranma! She's in her Junior year. She's the one who has been training the reborn Sailors Mercury, Jupiter and Mars in martial arts. She's a brilliant martial artist and with Mercury's help is becoming one of the better students in school. When they get to senior year I would expect her to equal or surpass Mizuno Ami in scholastic achievement."

"A far cry from the academic slacker the Princess was in the main timeline, don't you think?" Pluto F commented with an expression of satisfaction on her face. "In the main timeline, the reborn princess had to grow into the role of leader. This version of her is ready to lead right now. She won't need to be rescued by Endymion's reincarnation. In fact, she may end up rescuing him."

"But if she doesn't marry Endymion's reincarnation, what will happen to Crystal Tokyo?" Pluto C wanted to know.

"I promised to tell you what had happened in the past and what you had missed of what is happening now," reminded the future version of the Guardian of Time. "You are now asking about the future. I can't tell you specifics about that and you know it. I will have to fall back on the hints. I can tell you that the future is in good hands, but it will turn out different from what you expect. I can promise that you are in for a wild ride in the wake of our Wild Horse there. For anything more you'll have to scan the possible timelines yourself."

At that point Pluto F stood up and straightened the skirt of her fuku, while brushing off invisible specks of dust. Pluto C scowled and complained, "So that's it? You're just going to drop a bombshell like that on me and leave?"

"Yes," answered the older version, her attitude evident of satisfaction. "I am. Now that you know where to look, you can use the Gates to view Ranma's past and fill in the gaps in what I've told you. I warn you some incidents in Ranma's past are... disturbing to watch. I would advise you to not eat a big meal before viewing some of the events that happened during his training journey."

"That bad?" Pluto C asked, sounding concerned.

"Worse." Pluto F waved her staff and then walked to the open portal of the Gates. She stepped in and disappeared into the future.

The Sailor Pluto who remained sat for a time as she digested the information she had been given. Much that had been frustrating her now made more sense. She didn't understand the whys still, but at least she finally knew _what_ was going on. Maybe with a little research into the past through the medium of the Gates of Time she might be able to puzzle out some of the questions of why. Not all of her frustration were removed, but she now had the means to resolve most of the remaining ones.

The answer she had been given regarding Crystal Tokyo was maddening. Her future self hadn't said that there would be a Crystal Tokyo but hadn't said that capitol of the reborn Moon Kingdom wouldn't come about either. The implication to the comment that the 'future is in good hands' seemed to indicate that however things turned out, it would be as good or possibly even better than the future for the world that Setsuna had been envisioning.

Author's Note: I could have explained the differences in the timeline in an AN but with a character like Sailor Pluto in the story, it isn't necessary. It can be more fun to reveal the differences in the telling of the story anyway.

Note for Blog post: This is a story I just started. So far I have this prologue and about 6 chapters worth of material finished so far. By casting Ranma in the part of Sailor Moon I was hoping to get Senshi leader who can seriously kick butt. By making this take place post wedding disaster, it gives me Ranma at the height of his powers. Let me know if you think this story looks good enough to be continued.

I originally gave this story the title of "1/2 Moon" but I think someone already wrote a fic with that title. "Ranma: Senshi of the Moon," could be looked at as a working title for now that could be changed later. I would welcome any suggestions for a better one.


	2. Chapter 1 Changes

Ranma: Senshi of the Moon

A Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon Crossover Fan Fiction

By Michael A. Ivins

What was that? You say I don't own Ranma or Sailor Moon? Are you sure?

Oh, all right! If you insist! I'm just a fanfic writer playing around with other people's characters. There, I said it! Are you happy?

Chapter 1

Changes

As she stepped out of her tepid shower in the Gym locker room area of Juuban High School, Tsukino Ranma reflected on how much her life had changed lately. Just a few months ago she had been living in Nerima. After returning from a trip to China where she had fought a creature believed to be a god or at least possessed of godlike powers, she, well he at the time, had been pushed into a wedding with the uncute tomboy.

Weddings were supposed to be joyous occasions, weren't they? This one had been total chaos. So much so that the actual purpose of the wedding, joining Tendo Akane and Saotome Ranma in the bonds of holy matrimony, had not been achieved.

Two of Ranma's other fiancées had appeared and thrown bombs made of exploding food. Kuno Tatewaki had shown up, swinging a real steel katana and looking for all the world as if he really intended to end Ranma's life. The sword swinger's crazy sister showed up wearing a black wedding dress and it looked as if she would try to hijack the ceremony to see to it that she was the bride.

One of the worst parts of the day had been when a cask of Naniichuan water had been produced by Tendo Soun. Something of a minor battle royal had erupted among the male Jusenkyo victims in an effort to gain possession of the cask. The hope for a cure had ended when Happosai, of all people, had appeared and drank the water in the cask after mistaking it for a container of sake.

Thinking back on it, Ranma had to question if that really had been the worst part of the wedding. She had been getting used to the curse and didn't really mind changing into a girl so much anymore. There were times when the curse was useful and even fun, even if she used to always make a big deal of always saying, "I'm a guy, damn it!"

Upon reflection, the worst part of it was Akane's reaction after the wedding. She had thought that the tomboy had come to terms with the curse and had accepted it at least a little. Then after it was all over Akane stated that the only reason she had been willing to go through with the wedding was for the sake of family and the thought that Ranma would be cured.

They'd had a huge argument after the wedding. Akane had loudly proclaimed that she didn't want to have anything to do with a "sex changing pervert" like Ranma. It had been bad enough that she had to marry a male-only pervert, but for the sake of family honor, she was willing to make the sacrifice on the condition that Ranma got his cure. If one could believe what the tomboy said, there was no chance now of them ever getting together. This argument was concluded by a trip to the koi pond by way of Mallet Air.

Ranma toweled herself off and went to the locker room to get dressed in her school uniform. She continued to think about how she had come to be here.

Because of the destruction of her house in a fight between the fiancées to obtain what they had believed to be ring, Saotome Nodoka had been staying with the Tendo family. This had allowed the auburn haired mother to keenly observe the interactions between Ranma and Akane as well as the rest of the fiancées. The week after the failed wedding she and Ranma had had some long talks.

The primary topic of conversation during those talks had been what had happened to Ranma on the training trip and during his stay in Nerima. Ranma's mother learned of the insane training methods, including the nekoken. She learned of all of the petty theft of food, and small valuables. She learned of how Genma had sold out her child for as little as a meal. Then there were all of the fiancées.

It would be an understatement to say that Nodoka was not happy with what she had heard. Ranma had to physically restrain the woman from taking her katana and slicing up her husband. She had been seriously considering turning the man into a panda skin rug.

Thanks to Ranma's efforts, the auburn haired mother had calmed down. With calm there had come a return to rational thought. When she was able to think things through, she decided on a different course of action, one that would ultimately hurt Genma worse than the sword would have. Thus it was that a month later Saotome Genma was served with papers declaring that his wife had divorced him, and had legal custody of Ranma awarded to her. She had also removed both herself and her son from the Saotome family register.

With the blessing of her father, Tsukino Kenji, and the rest of Tsukino clan, Nodoka took back her maiden name and got Ranma's name changed as well. Nodoka's older siblings, Shingo and Usagi had been supportive in this as well. The wrecked house in Nerima was sold for the value of the land, which turned out to be worth quite a bit. The sale brought enough money for Nodoka to purchase a newer house in a middle class neighborhood in the Azabu-Juuban district of Minato Ward.

All engagements were declared null and void. Nodoka had not taken kindly to having bombs thrown at her during the wedding. She had looked with even less favor on the abuse that Akane had been dealing out to her son. While it was true that Ranma was not the most tactful of people, he did not deserve being beaten with a mallet over speaking a few poorly chosen words.

Ranma's ruminations were interrupted as a tall brunette with her hair in a high pony tail came over and asked, "Hey Ranma, are we still on for training tomorrow?"

Grinning, the pigtailed redhead replied, "Of course, Mako-chan. Unless you have something better to do, like... a date maybe."

The tall girl let out a sigh and said, "No such luck. Kenichi and I broke up."

"Oh no!" Ranma exclaimed in sympathy. "And you seemed so sure that this one was going to last." She placed a consoling hand on her friend's shoulder and said, "You'll have to tell me and the girls about it after our sparring session."

"Yeah, we can talk about it tomorrow," the tall girl agreed. "I've got stuff to do at home, so I'll head out now."

As she watched the other girl walk away, Ranma reflected that this was another way in which her life had changed. It had started during those talks with her mother. Nodoka had been curious about the curse and how Ranma was dealing with it.

When Nodoka had first learned of the curse she had been willing to tolerate it as long as Ranma remained male in thought at least. However, she had insisted that her son change back to male form as soon as possible.

It had been a week before the trip to China that Ranma had spent a day with his mother. They had spent much of the time walking around Nerima Ward's shopping districts and Nodoka had seen first hand how hard it was for the boy to stay male sometimes. In that day Ranma had gotten splashed by the ladle lady, a malfunctioning lawn sprinkler, a sudden rain shower that seemed to fall only on Ranma, wash water being dumped from the balcony of an apartment building and a car driving through a puddle.

After each of the splashing incidents, they had stopped at a restaurant or yattai to get hot water and change Ranma back to male. Yet that was not enough to keep Ranma in his birth gender. By the time the day was done, Nodoka had been forced to concede defeat and allow her son to remain her daughter for the rest of the day.

Further questioning brought out the fact that the curse seemed to want Ranma to spend at least half of his time in cursed form. If he went too long in male form, the curse seemed to magically attract water and that was what led to all of the strangely coincidental seeming water accidents. Although Nodoka found it slightly disturbing to think that a magic curse might actually want something, she decided that it might be possible to work with that.

Showing a keen grasp of the principles of logic, Nodoka proposed an experiment to try once they had moved to Juuban. Ranma would deliberately schedule time to spend in girl form. She would always sleep that way and spend at least part of every day like that. The result of this simple-seeming step was amazing to the aquatranssexual. Water accidents stopped happening.

That led to the current arrangement. Not only would Ranma sleep in girl form, but her mother registered her at Juuban High School as a girl. All time outside of school or sleep was spent in male form. This also had the effect of helping to erode many of the macho attitudes the martial artist had held onto.

Attending school as a girl did have its challenges. Ranma had to be careful to avoid hot water, but was grateful to find that she could wash and shower in water just slightly under body temperature without changing.

Without having to worry about people thinking her a freak, she was able to make friends. One of the first friends she had was Naru, a shy girl who seemed really nice. Then there was Mizuno Ami. At first it had seemed to be the oddest friendship. The martial artist and the genius.

Ami had learned to look past the surface and found that Ranma was as much of a genius in her own way as Ami was herself. With the help of the blue haired prodigy, Ranma started learning how to apply her intelligence to subjects other than martial arts and athletics. With that aid her grades had displayed a remarkable improvement until she was a possible challenger for Ami's spot as the top of the class.

Then there had been Kino Makoto. The girl had been a severe discipline problem and had been kicked out of several schools for fighting. She had prided herself on her martial arts skills but had a temper that led to problems. Then she met Ranma and found that, compared to the redhead, her martial arts skills were as a beginner compared to a master.

The two of them had hit it off right away. The tall girl felt that she had found a kindred spirit in Ranma. They would hang out together and Ranma had determined that she would teach her friend and improve her skills. Along with that increase in skills went an improvement in control and the odd fights that Makoto used to get into stopped.

Another girl Ranma had met outside of school. Hino Rei lived and worked at the Hikawa Shrine and Ranma had met her when she and her mother had gone to visit. The shrine was located close to where they lived. The girl was smart, pretty and had a fiery temper. In spite of that temper she was also kind and caring and was unlikely to go beyond yelling in the expression of her anger.

Even if she was starting to accept the femininity of her girl side, Ranma was quite sure she wasn't so far into it that she could ever feel any attraction to men or boys. No, her only attraction was to girls and she felt a strong attraction to Rei. Even though the shrine maiden had expressed interest in boys, Ranma suspect that the girl might also harbor a hidden attraction to girls as well. She hoped so, because the curse almost required that any girl she got together with would have to be bisexual.

She had been trying for a while to try and figure out how to approach the other girl to find out what her preferences might be in that direction. If much more time went by without any progress, she was going to have to ask her mother for advice. Considering all the weird manliness crap Nodoka had spoken of in the past, Ranma was hesitant to ask.

Because all of her friends were girls, Ranma had begun to learn the ways of that previously unknown form of communication known as girl talk. Ranma could participate in on subjects such as boys and would commiserate with friends in regard to their romantic problems. She wouldn't speak openly of it, but the other girls got the impression that Ranma wasn't really into boys. Since she didn't make any moves to aggressively pursue other girls, they didn't make any complaint about her presumed preferences.

Even with girls she wasn't actively friends with, Ranma was at least on good terms. Part of that was due to Ranma toning down her arrogance and behaving less like a jerk. True, as a girl she was an outrageous tomboy, but she was a nice one. As she left the school she waved at some of her friends. After having so few friends during the training trip, she treasured each friend she made now.

It was fortunate that the school was within walking distance of her home. She could have gotten there by roof hopping, but she was trying to keep a low profile and blend in with the "normal" girls. A few times she had to run off some persistent guys who had tried to get fresh with her, but they had not been a problem.

Her route took her past a park. On some days she would detour into this place to enjoy the neatly trimmed lawns and well kept trees, but didn't feel in the mood for it today. However, when she was opposite the park she had a sense that something was wrong.

Earlier.

A smallish black cat had been wandering around the city of Tokyo for years. She had a mission to perform, but was beginning to wonder if it was even possible to accomplish. For so very long she had been ordered to find the blonde haired girl who would show the crescent moon symbol on her forehead when Luna probed with her own power. She had had no luck at all.

She was sure she had looked into the face of every blonde haired girl in the city of Tokyo's many districts and none of them had responded to the flash of energy broadcast from the crescent moon symbol on her own forehead.

Then a few days ago she had been contacted by Sailor Pluto. The word now was to look for a girl with bright red hair. Not just any red haired girl, she would have to be a natural redhead. As if red hair was all that common a trait among girls in Japan. In addition, she had been told to start looking at girls older than 14 and 15. Idly the cat wondered how it was she was supposed to know the difference between natural red hair and dyed anyway. It wasn't like she could easily spy on the girls in their baths.

If Sailor Moon was a redhead, then why had Luna spent more than 30 years looking for a blonde? It was enough to make a moon cat wonder if the Senshi of Time really had any idea what she was doing. Maybe the long centuries of tending the Gates of Time had eroded the woman's intellect.

The small creature noted the presence of a park nearby and decided that she deserved to take a break under a nice shady bush or shrub. All of this searching was terribly tiring. She could also wish that Pluto would give her more support. But no, she couldn't do that. The Senshi of Pluto just gave her the job to find Sailor Moon and then dumped her into the streets of Tokyo and left her to find her own way. The poor cat was forced to scrounge food from garbage cans or beg occasional treats from kind humans. She slept in whatever makeshift shelter she could find on the street or back alleys.

In her travels around the district Luna had met kind humans who had wanted to adopt her. It was getting to the point where she was feeling tempted to just pick a nice family and stay with them and let Pluto do her own searching. Surely the Gates of Time would be better for finding Sailor Moon than a small cat tramping all over a city with millions of people. Or at least if she found a home to stay at, she could use it as a base of operations. She hated being an alley cat.

The weather was nice today and she was glad to get into the park to get under the shade of some trees. She threaded her way around and between some of the people in the park and found a nice quiet spot under a shrub. She lay down and rested her chin on her crossed front paws.

She was almost asleep when her senses picked up on a disturbance. What was going on? Something _evil_ was in the park. She peeked out from under the shrub and was witness to a strange portal that seemed to materialize in the air under some trees. The people in the park were either frozen in shock or edging slowly away from the disturbance.

A moment later something emerged from the portal. A youma? Oh no! It was too soon! She hadn't found Sailor Moon yet, to say nothing of the Princess.

As she hid under the shrub, she watched the creature move with great speed to intercept those people who were trying to get away. Before they had time to properly react, the demonic creature was draining the energy out of those poor humans.

Outside the park, listening to her danger sense, Ranma leapt over the street and to the sidewalk on the other side and then ran into the park. Screened from view of the street by the trees and shrubbery there was a pond. Near to that was a large humanoid, vaguely female looking... thing. It looked to be a little over six feet tall with leathery-looking brownish-green skin and eyes that seemed to take up a third of its face.

The creature had no visible external ears and a mouth with rather large, sharp- looking teeth. Its hands looked large in proportion to its body and sported claws instead of fingernails.

The monster seemed quite pleased with itself as it surveyed several people who looked to be unconscious on the ground by its feet. Not content to simply accomplish its goals, the creature raised its arms in the air and loudly proclaimed, "For the greater glory of the Negaverse, your energy is mine!"

What was the stupid thing babbling about? Energy? Ranma used her ki senses to scan the bodies on the ground. They were alive, but their ki levels were dangerously low. Ok, it seemed obvious that this monster had somehow sucked the life energy out of those people like some kind of vampire or maybe a little like her English teacher back at Furinkan.

The major difference between this creature and Ms. Hinako was in the degree of drain. The little ki vampire teacher drained battle aura and left the victims of her "discipline" weak, but still awake, just unable to move or do much of anything. These people had been drained of their basic life essence to a point where any additional loss could have killed them. They were all unconscious.

The martial artist knew what she had to do. It was the duty of a martial artist to protect those who could not protect themselves and it looked like those people were pretty helpless at the moment. She shouted "Moku Takabisha!" launching one of her strongest attacks.

The creature's celebration of its victory over puny humans was interrupted when it was struck. The ki blast knocked the creature down and seemed to disorient it a bit, but didn't do any other harm Ranma could see. Of course! If the creature absorbed ki, then it must have absorbed at least part of the blast. The blast would have been too much, too fast for all of it to be absorbed, but it wasn't doing enough damage. Maybe it even used some of the absorbed energy to heal the damage.

Hmm, getting in close to pound on the monster didn't seem like a good idea either. Since this was a well maintained park, there weren't a lot of loose rocks or tree branches that she could throw at it. Whatever she did, she would have to do it quick. The monster seemed to have recovered from its daze and was starting to get on its feet.

Quickly choosing a plan of attack, Ranma made a slashing motion with one hand while calling out, "Kaijin Raishu Dan!" An invisible vacuum blade flew through the air and hit the creature in the waist, cutting it in half. The two halves fell in opposite directions and a moment later they disintegrated into dust and made a small pile on the ground.

The red haired girl quickly rushed forward to check on the people lying on the ground. Even as she got there she could tell that their ki was going back to previous levels. It would seem that whatever energy the monster had absorbed was now being fed back to the people it had been stolen from.

Beneath her shrub, Luna watched the battle. A girl with bright red hair! She was a fighter too. This could be the one she had been told to search for!

At a thought, the crescent moon symbol on the cat's forehead glowed and in response a similar mark appeared on the girl's face. Obviously the girl couldn't see it without a mirror and likely was too focused on helping the victims to notice anything the glowing symbol might have made her feel. Even if they had been conscious, the youma's victims wouldn't have been able to see the crescent moon symbol. They lacked the magic senses that the cat possessed.

Could that be her? Could her long search finally be coming to an end? That mark should only appear on the face of Sailor Moon. The girl matched the description that Sailor Pluto had given. The cat cautiously moved out from under the bush and approached the girl.

As she walked toward the girl, Luna could see the people starting to stir. It was apparent that the youma had not been able to transfer the energy it had stolen back to those who had sent it. That would naturally mean that the stolen life energy would return to those it had been stolen from. With witnesses there to see and hear, she wouldn't be able to talk to the girl, but she could at least make her presence known.

Young girls usually loved all manner of things small and furry, including cats. There should be no problem in getting the girl to accept her and maybe even pick her up and take her away. If they could get to the girl's home then Luna could talk to her and tell her about her destiny as the lunar defender of Love and Justice.

Ranma was helping one of the monster's recovering victims to her feet. The middle aged woman touched her forehead and somewhat dizzily asked, "What happened to me? I remember coming into the park and I saw a weird creature."

"Don't worry about it," Ranma assured her, "The creature seemed to have knocked you out, but it won't bother you again. I took care of it."

With her attention on the woman she was helping, Ranma didn't see the cat approaching. Then from behind her a voice spoke, "Ahem! Meow."

The red haired girl's head whipped around and the sight that greeted her was a creature of nightmare far worse than the monster she had just fought. In her instinctive fear reaction it didn't occur to her that the sounds which had come from the cat were words as a human would speak, not the actual meow a real cat would produce. All she could think at this moment was that she was confronted by one of those demon spawn of hell with fangs and claws like those that had been in the pit. She feared that it would probably try to eat her.

With a scream of, "CAAAAT!" the redhead ran off out of the park.

Momentarily frozen in shock, the moon cat quickly shook off her amazement and took off to run in hot pursuit. She couldn't lose Sailor Moon now that she had finally found her. As she ran, Luna thought, "_I wasn't expecting that reaction. Why would the Senshi of the moon be afraid of cats_?"

Author's Note: Sorry for the short chapter. I know I'm going to catch some flack for the battle so let me defend myself. I've read fics where Ranma hit a youma with a ki blast and it did nothing because the creature absorbed all of it. Personally I can't buy that.

Here's my reasoning on this: Imagine a garden hose where you hold it up to drink out of it. If there's no spray nozzle, it would be pretty much like a drinking fountain. Now imagine trying to drink from a high pressure fire hose. You might be able to get some in your mouth but you would be just as likely to be knocked over by the force of the water stream.

The point is that the life energy in a ki blast would be coming too fast and too intense for a youma to absorb all of it. The youma would still take some damage, just not as much as if it wasn't absorbing anything.

Clarification: One of my readers was confused by the reference to Usagi and Shingo as Nodoka's siblings. In this AU Usagi and Shingo were born about the same time as canon SM but Usagi was not Sailor Moon. The time for this story is 2009. I would place ages for the Tsukino siblings as Nodoka being in her late 30's, Shingo early 40's and Usagi mid 40's.


	3. Chapter 2 Taking Care of Feline Problems

1/2 Moon

A Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon Crossover Fan Fiction

By Michael A. Ivins

What was that? You say I don't own Ranma or Sailor Moon? Are you sure?

Oh, all right! If you insist! I'm just a fanfic writer playing around with other people's characters. There, I said it! Are you happy?

Chapter 2

Taking Care of Feline Problems

The short, red haired girl stopped on the sidewalk in front of a modest house. It was only two stories tall and the only differences from the other houses on the block were in the color of the paint and details of the yard.

The girl breathed hard from running full out for several blocks. She scanned the sidewalk in the direction she had come from, but there was no sign of pursuit either on the sidewalk or the street. She couldn't see anything in the trees or shrubs. She had even taken a few detours in an effort to lose her pursuer.

The busty redhead took in a deep breath held it for a moment, then let it out in a big sigh. She muttered, "I guess I lost it. Damn fur-ball! Why can't they just leave me alone?"

As the girl opened the gate in the wall that surrounded the property, a small, black furred head poked its way around the corner and took note of which house the girl went to. When she was sure the girl couldn't see her, the smallish black cat with a peculiar crescent moon-shaped mark on her forehead raced after her target. Damn, but that girl was fast! If the house she had been running to had been just one block farther, the cat would have lost her. In fact if she had gotten to that corner after the girl had gone in the gate she likely wouldn't have been able to spot her.

Considering the expression of sheer terror on the girl's face and the terrified screams when she had run, the cat felt that it might be wise to scout out the situation before she tried to confront the redhead again. If this girl was who the cat believed her to be, it would be hard to fathom why she might be afraid of cats.

Inside the house, the girl walked into the kitchen, panting. She said, "I'm home. How was your day, Mom?"

"My day went well enough," the older woman answered. She was concerned about her child. For Ranma to arrive at home while out of breath might mean she had been in a fight or something along those lines. "What happened to you? You are out breath."

"The usual sort of craziness, I guess," the girl replied. "And I thought moving here was going to get me away from all of that."

"Did one of the fiancées find you?" the older woman asked with a worried expression.

"Nah, not one of them." Ranma clarified, "I said the same _sort_ of craziness, not the _exact_ same stuff. In this case when I was passing the park, there was some kind of monster attacking people. It seemed to have knocked them out. From what I could read of their ki, I got the idea that it had drained some or even most of their life energies."

"How horrible!" Nodoka exclaimed. "But if the creature could drain their life energies, how could you fight it? Aren't most of your attacks making use of that same kind of energy?"

"Most, but not all," the redhead explained. "Some of Pop's sealed techniques worked. The Yama Senken uses ki to create the vacuum blades, but the blades themselves are voids in the air. I was able to use them to kill the monster."

Her expression troubled, the girl said, "When I used a vacuum blade to cut the monster in half, it turned to dust. It was almost like one of those movies. You know, the ones where some kind of alien creature or magic monster's remains disappear after it dies so there is no body for the authorities to examine."

The auburn haired mother shuddered and repeated, "Horrible."

"Nah, that wasn't the worst part," Ranma said. "Right after I got done with the monster, one of those little... furry things stepped out of the bushes and just stood there, staring at me for a minute."

Furry thing? "Oh, do you mean a cat?" the mother queried.

The girl shuddered and said, "Yeah! Well, I took off running to try and get away, but the damn thing chased me. It was pretty fast too, and was able to keep up for most of the way. I only lost it when I got to our neighborhood."

The older woman patted her daughter on the back and said, "My poor Ranma. Your father really messed you up. Some day we are going to have to get you to a psychiatrist to see if there is anything they can do to get you over your fear."

With a sad expression, the girl said, "I don't know if a shrink can help." She thought but didn't say out loud, "_If I thought it would help I would have asked to see one myself_."

Nodoka took the kettle she now always kept on low heat for when Ranma came home and handed it to her daughter. The girl thanked her mother, then poured some of the warm water over her head.

A few minutes earlier, the cat had jumped to a window that looked into the kitchen. From there, she was able to see what happened and could overhear the conversation. That was how she witnessed what seemed an almost unbelievable sight. The red haired girl she had been chasing spoke to an auburn haired woman who looked enough like the teenager that she had to be the girl's mother. The older woman handed a kettle to the girl who poured some of the water on her head.

That action caused a startling change. The girl grew taller, more angular and muscular in appearance. In addition the hair went from red to black, and it was pretty clear that the black haired person was male. What sort of magic was this, and how had a Senshi fallen victim to it?

The cat dismissed the thought. It didn't matter how it happened. The important thing was that the person she had followed was a girl at least part of the time, but more importantly she had the crescent moon symbol on her forehead. That meant that the person had to be Sailor Moon, or at least he was when she was female. From what the feline observer knew of Senshi magic, that would likely make him the Lunar Knight when male.

The cat watched as the boy gave his mother a hug and said, "I'm going to my room to do homework."

"Alright dear, I'll call you when dinner is ready," The auburn haired mother replied.

After the boy left the kitchen the cat listened to his movement through the house and finally heard him go to a room on the second floor. As that was where he stopped, it most likely was his bedroom.

The feline intruder jumped down from the kitchen window and looked around the yard. She was able to spot a tree that grew near the house. The branches of the tree were not stout enough to support a human burglar, but it would be quite adequate for the cat to get herself to the second story window.

At her landing on soft paws on the windowsill, the boy started and halfway turned his head toward the window without actually looking at it. He muttered, "Stupid tree! Gonna have to trim the branches back so they don't scratch the side of the house every time the wind blows."

The black furred feline breathed a silent sigh of relief. Apparently, the boy, Ranma, was used to hearing small noises from the tree branches brushing up against the house. As the cat cautiously pushed her head through the curtains and peered into the room, she could see the boy sitting cross-legged on the bed, facing away from the window. His school books were in front of him but none were open and he appeared to be brooding.

The cat pulled herself back behind the curtain, and she debated with herself what to do before she finally she decided.

While he was seated on the bed, Ranma knew in the back of his mind that he should be doing his homework, since the math assignment wasn't going to do itself. Now that he didn't have the fiancées, rivals and others bothering him all the time he was actually able to get enough sleep that he could stay awake in class. It had worked wonders and he (well, she) was able to learn the material the teacher was trying to impart.

The problem was that the monster in the park had worried him more than he had let his mother know. If it simply had been an isolated incident, then that was one thing, but what if there were more of those monsters out there somewhere? If there were more of them, then there was no way he could stay out of it with the way his life went.

Suddenly, from behind him, a woman's voice spoke. "Ranma. Don't be alarmed and please don't turn around." It sounded like a mature woman, a little like one of his older teachers at high school.

In spite of the request, the boy was tempted to look anyway but resisted the temptation. If this was an enemy, they could have attacked already, so he was willing to cut the intruder some slack. "Who are you and how do you know my name? I don't recognize your voice."

"My name is Luna," said the voice. "You saw me in the park after you fought the monster. As for how I know your name, I was at the window of the kitchen, and I overheard your mother call you by that name."

"Eavesdropping?" the boy observed. It was not good habit to be in, but he had done it himself a few times, so chose not comment further on it. Then he thought back to the people he had seen at the park. "All of the women I saw at the park were either unconscious or not enough recovered to follow me. You weren't one of the people the monster drained, are you? Maybe you hid behind a tree or something."

"No, I am not one of them," the voice announced. "But I was hiding at the time of the attack."

Ranma felt the cold hand of fear clutch at his heart as he realized what else he had seen in the park. He was able to control the fear, but only because he couldn't actually see a small fuzzy body and the voice didn't seem to have any feline overtones. He finally summoned up enough presence of mind to say, "So are you telling me that you are the cat I saw, a _talking_ cat?"

"Maybe this will put your mind a little more at ease," the voice offered. "I am not a cat such as you know of them. In truth I am an alien to your world and I just look like a cat. I am from a planet called Mau."

"An alien?" The boy was silent to consider that for a moment. Oddly enough that actually did help a little. Finally he said, "Well, I guess with all of the weird stuff that happens in my life, aliens were bound to come into it sooner or later. Why did you follow me and what do you want from me?"

The cat explained, "The type of monster you fought in the park is called a youma. I believe it was sent out to gather human life energy for a magical dark kingdom that I know of as the Negaverse. When I used my power, a symbol showed up on your forehead and glowed. The symbol was that of a crescent moon."

The pigtailed boy placed two fingers from his right hand on his forehead and rubbed it lightly. It felt like ordinary skin the same as it always did. "Ok, let's say for the moment that I believe you saw something on my face. What's it supposed to mean?"

The cat frowned but pressed ahead, "What I am going to tell you will sound like a fairy tale or a story from a manga, but please listen."

She paused to collect her thoughts and then began, "Twenty thousand years ago or more, I'm not really sure exactly how long ago it was, there was a kingdom that existed on the earth, the moon and all of the planets of the Solar System."

"Planets?" Ranma was listening, and wasn't going to voice his skepticism yet, but he did want clarification on points of the story.

The cat continued, "Through a combination of magic and technology, the people of the Silver Millennium created habitable biospheres on all of the planets of the Solar System as well as many of the moons. The capital of the system was the Moon of Earth. It had a palace beside what it now called the Sea of Serenity where Queen Serenity the 9th ruled."

"So was the Sea of Serenity named after a queen?" Ranma wondered.

"I don't know, but I suspect it was so," Luna responded. "The queen selected one special woman from each planet or moon to be linked to that world's power. They were called the Sailor Senshi because of the sailor style collar on their uniforms. The only exception I know of was Earth. I'm not sure if that was because the Earth was not a unified planet. Of all the planets in the system, Earth was the only one that had separate nations that existed on it."

"Ok," the boy responded. So far it really did sound like something out of a manga or anime. Wanting to keep the story coming he asked, "What did these Senshi do?"

"They were elite soldiers that protected their worlds and the Queen as well," the cat replied. "But on Earth, one woman who was a member of the nobility of one of the nations there became ambitious. She allied herself with forces that seemed to come not from another world of our galaxy but from some alternate reality or plane of existence. We called it the Negaverse."

Ranma prompted, "What happened?"

"The woman named Beryl proclaimed herself to be a queen and used the youma, demons she had summoned or perhaps created, to attack the other worlds," Luna continued. "There was a terrible war and in the fighting the artificially maintained biospheres on the other planets were destroyed and everyone died. Only the Earth survived because its habitat was natural and not maintained by magic or technology. The Senshi were overwhelmed."

"In a desperate bid to salvage what she could, Queen Serenity used the last of her power to seal away the forces of the Negaverse into a pocket universe," the voice related. "Well, I suppose it would be more accurate to say that she used _nearly_ the last of her power. She put myself and at least one other Mau advisor that I know of into stasis capsules that were launched to Earth. The souls of the Senshi were sent forward in time to be reincarnated in a time when the forces of the Negaverse would finally start to break free from their prison to menace the world again."

"And if I fought a youma from this Negaverse place, then I guess this means this Beryl person and her forces are starting to break loose from their prison," Ranma surmised. "That must also mean that the Senshi have been reborn. That still doesn't explain what you want with me."

The cat let out a sigh. "The crescent moon symbol I saw glowing on your forehead proves that you are the reincarnated Senshi of the Moon."

"What?" Ranma almost turned to look at the cat but stopped himself. "You're crazy! If that were true I'd have been born a girl. Even if I have a curse to turn into a girl, I was born male and have been a guy most of my life."

That was a tough one. Luna decided she needed more information. "How did you come by this 'curse?'"

The boy gave a highly condensed account of the visit to Jusenkyo. He spoke of the many pools, the Guide, and the sparring match against his father on the poles. He spoke of how he felt when he come out of the spring.

Finally he said, "It was pure chance that I landed in that pool. From what I've heard there are a lot more springs that turn people into animals than humans. I was just as likely to have turned into a dog, a rat or horse. Those were some of the other springs near the one I fell into."

The cat took that in for a moment before replying, "So if we were just talking laws of chance, it would have been far more likely for you to get a cursed form of an animal instead of a human."

"That's what I said," Ranma said a little grumpily.

"Destiny has a way of doing things like that sometimes," Luna said. "I firmly believe that you were meant to be a girl and to take up the mantle of Sailor Moon, warrior for love and justice. As the leader of the Sailor Senshi it would be your job to gather the rest of the Senshi and to find the Moon Princess."

"Love and justice?" The boy's tone was strongly evident with disgust. "It figures it would be something girly like that."

"What's wrong with girly?" the cat demanded with some asperity.

"Nothing, if I was _born_ as a girl," Ranma fired back. "But I was born a boy and raised by one of the most macho, misogynistic men on the face of the planet. His goal was to make me a 'man among men,' (whatever that's supposed to mean.)"

Falling silent for a moment, Ranma considered what he had been told. Finally, he asked, "So, does a 'warrior for love and justice' still get to kick ass?"

"Well, that is part of what being a warrior is about," the little black cat conceded. She could tell the kind of appeal that work best with this one. "You would get to fight against terrible evil, not just for love and justice, but for the safety and survival of everyone on the Earth."

Fight for the safety and survival of everyone? Now it was starting to sound more like Ranma's kind of action. He nodded and asked, "So if the bad guys win, what's their plan? Are they going to conquer the earth or just wipe everyone out?"

The furry lurker behind the curtain sighed and said, "At the beginning of the conflict I would have believed that conquest was the goal. After what Beryl's forces did to the other planets though, I think extermination might have been her objective. I can't say that I understand it. Why would anyone want to rule over dead planets?"

Shaking his head now, Ranma said, "Killed or conquered, it's just different kinds of bad. At least with conquest, there's a chance of rebellion and freedom later. I'd tell you to sign me up right now, but I see a problem."

"What problem?"

"If I'm doing this Sailor thingy, I'll have to work with you, won't I?" the boy pressed.

Catching the hint, Luna probed, "Did you suffer some kind of trauma related to cats when you were a child?" the cat probed.

"You could say that," he allowed. He launched into a brief description of the cat fist training along with the fact that Genma hadn't read the warning at the end until after the damage was done.

"Your own father did that to you, and you let him live?" She was astonished.

"The man is not evil, just careless and impatient," Ranma stated. "If you were to ask him about it now he'd probably say something like, 'Who reads the whole manual anyway?' He'd also say something about how weak I am that I would fear something that small and harmless looking."

"I hope you are free of his influence now," the cat said fervently.

"Yeah, my mom divorced him and used the nekoken training as the grounds to get custody of me," the boy answered. "That still doesn't answer the question of how I'm going to work with you if I'm afraid to even look at you."

The voice from behind him sounded uncertain, "There is a procedure, a technique, I guess you could call it, that I could try."

"What kind of technique?" Ranma wanted to know.

"A mind meld," said the cat. "I can probe your thoughts and try to correct the damage done by the nekoken training."

"Mind meld?" Where had he heard that term before? Oh, right! Ranma's friend Ami had the complete original Star Trek series on DVD, and Ranma had viewed a few episodes with her between studies. "Do you mean like that Spock guy in that American TV show?"

"It's a similar idea," she admitted. "Would you be willing to try it?"

"Are you sure it's safe?"

"Reasonably sure," the cat hedged.

"Look, if the possible result would be to put me in the nekoken state permanently, then I'd have to bow out," he told her. "Other than the c-c-cats themselves, one of my greatest fears is that I'll wake up from the blackout to find out that I've seriously hurt or even killed someone. If I was permanently stuck in the Nekoken state, I'd be effectively dead."

"No, you won't be stuck in the cat-fist state," Luna promised. "The worst that could happen is that you would be no worse off than you are now."

"Ok, I'll give it a shot," the boy finally decided. He desperately wanted to be rid of the cat-fist. "What do I have to do?"

"It would be best for you to lie down and close your eyes," instructed the furry visitor.

Before Ranma could comply with the directions, Nodoka's voice called out, "Ranma, dinner's ready."

Turning his head to the door Ranma nodded. He got up from the bed and said, "Ok, Luna. Could we do this after dinner?"

"It would probably be best to wait as I'm not sure how long it will take," the feline responded. "Um... could you bring me something from your meal? I've sort of been living on the streets for a long time and meals are somewhat irregular." Her pride wouldn't let her mention that she had been eating out of garbage cans.

"Sure, no problem," the boy said. "From the smell I'm pretty sure that she made something with fish. Can you eat rice?"

"Actually I can eat pretty much anything you can," the cat assured. "Although I am quite partial to fish, when I can get it."

"Ok."

The boy exited the room, and he closed the door behind him. Once she had heard the door shut, Luna poked her head out from the curtains and then jumped to the bed and from there to the floor where she decided the best place to wait would be under the bed. When she got there she was surprised at how clean it was. In fact, the whole room was surprisingly tidy for the dwelling place of a teenaged boy.

When Ranma got to the kitchen, his mother asked, "Were you listening to the radio in your room? I though I heard voices."

"Yeah," Ranma agreed. "The radio." He didn't want to try and say more because he knew that he couldn't tell a lie convincingly. He then ate as his mother had insisted a self-respecting young man should. While he still ate quickly, it was more slowly than in the past so he would not offend his mother's sense of propriety.

When he finished, he told his mother, "I'm going to work on a meditation technique. I think I may have figured out a way to get over the nekoken."

"That would be wonderful if it works," Nodoka stated. "So you won't be practicing in the yard tonight?"

"Not tonight," the boy agreed. "None of the girls are coming over, so I've got the evening free."

"Good luck with your meditation."

"Thanks Mom," he said as he headed to his room.

When he got into the room he quietly called out, "Luna, where are you?"

"Under the bed," came the voice. Ranma nodded and slid the plate he had snuck out of the dining room under the bed. "Here you go. Some fish, rice and steamed vegetables. I hope there's enough."

"It's fine," was the brief answer. A few minutes later the empty plate slid out, pushed by a black furred paw. On seeing that appendage Ranma nervously gulped but controlled himself with an effort.

Ranma picked up the plate and set it on his desk to take it downstairs later. "Ok." He said as walked to the bed to lie down. When he was comfortably settled and had closed his eyes, he said, "I'm ready when you are."

He could feel the slight impact of a small body landing on the bed. At the thought of a talking cat on the same bed as him, he reached for the calm of the Soul of Ice. When he was calm enough, he went into a meditative state.

Luna looked at the boy lying in front of her. After all of the memory loss she had suffered from the suspension in the stasis pod, she just hoped that she remembered how to do this.

She extended her mind and touched his. Even if she couldn't remember how to change her body into a humanoid form, she was still able to adopt that form in her mind. That is what Ranma saw in his mind.

Luna's appearance in the dreamscape of Ranma's mind was of a petite black haired woman in a knee length blue dress. There was no tail visible and her ears, while pointed, were more elfin looking than feline. She was more cute than beautiful with eyes the same color as her feline form. The eyes had slit pupils rather than round, but other than the ears, these were the only non-human traits that were visible.

Together they explored the landscape of his mind. They found the memories of the pit. When she viewed the memory, Luna commented on how she would like to conduct some tests on a certain panda's level of pain tolerance.

With a snort, Ranma replied, "You're in good company. Just about everybody who hears the story of the N-Nekoken training wants to do something painful to Genma."

Luna pointed out, "You should know that not all cats are like that. Even the ones in the pit weren't. When they were that hungry there was little left of them but wild beasts. They weren't attacking you to hurt you; they were just trying to get the food that was tied to you."

"I know that in my head," they boy responded. "But I don't think that understanding has reached my heart yet."

After some searching they were able to find some happy cat related memories. A 3 year old Ranma played with a kitten. There were other memories. In fact when Ranma was a small child he had loved cats.

Then Luna saw it! In the distance they could both see a creature that appeared to be a tabby housecat, but the size of a lion. There was a sense of presence to the creature. From the feelings that Luna could pick up she thought that this must be a single entity that was distilled from the spirits of all the cats which had been in the pit. When they got closer, Ranma stayed behind Luna.

In searching for this, the human looking cat had scanned many of Ranma's memories. Those memories Luna had scanned had shown that Genma had intended the training technique to create a berserk warrior of incredible ferocity. What he got was basically a playful kitten that might fight to protect itself if threatened, but it was otherwise a threat to no-one.

Even though she was not a true cat, such as those that were born on the Earth, Luna could speak the language of such felines. Thanks to that ability she was able to talk to the spirit. It was not a conversation full of deep insights, but she was able to get some idea of what the cat spirit thought and what it saw as its purpose inside the mind of its host.

Now came the tricky part of the procedure. The spirit considered itself Ranma's guardian. It protected him by taking over his body when the boy's mind was so paralyzed by the fear that it retreated. Such an action would have left Ranma frozen, paralyzed or unconscious. That was not something that the cat spirit could allow.

The mental projection of the Mau advisor felt sadness for what she must do. She told the cat spirit that, by keeping itself separate from the psyche of its host, it was perpetuating the fear. Only by sacrificing itself, merging with the host, would the spirit achieve its true purpose. The explanation of the strange cat person made it clear. By merging, the host would be freed from the terrible fear and would no longer need a guardian spirit to take over his body.

The cat spirit looked angry for a moment. While not absolutely clear on all of the more abstract concepts, the spirit understood that it was being asked to give up its existence as an individual. But then it looked around itself. The soul of its host lay around it and the spirit could read the true nature of the being that it guarded. Here was someone who truly loved cats, and the nekoken training had turned that love to fear. And yet even with the fear, it had never turned to hatred.

The choice was clear. The spirit froze in place, its eyes looking into those of the representation of her host before it. The look in those eyes was sad, but determined.

The form of the spirit seemed to pulse with energy before it suddenly started to grow. When the form of the cat spirit was twice its former size it could be seen that it had taken on a slightly transparent appearance. When it was three times its original size the body of the cat began to look as if it were dissolving into a mist. While still maintaining the shape of a cat, the misty form continued to grow larger and ever larger as the mist thinned. The spirit grew until it appeared the size of a mountain but now barely perceptible. Finally the shape broke apart and dispersed into the dreamscape of Ranma's mind.

With that dispersal, there was a moment of perfect calm as if everything was paused. Then the sky seemed to flicker and the ground shook beneath the feet of the mental projections of Ranma and Luna.

While they were buffeted by winds that carried what felt like a stinging rain which did not leave them wet, the ground seemed to shift and flow. To both Ranma and the mental projection of Luna it was like an earthquake and a fierce storm combined.

After a time of disturbance, things settled down. The "sky" was now a shade of blue that neither remembered seeing in nature. Not far from where they stood a rocky mound had formed or perhaps it might be more appropriate to say that it had seemed to have thrust itself out of the ground.

The mound was not large enough to be called a hill, about twice the height of either of the two observers. On the side of the mound that was facing them they could see an opening which might have led to a cave if the mound had been in the real world. Here there seemed to be some kind of flat, circular pane of glass or other transparent substance. On the surface of that barrier images flickered, somewhat resembling an odd sort of television screen.

Feeling slightly freaked, Ranma demanded, "Luna, what just happened?"

"I'm not sure," the Mau responded. "When the cat spirit merged with the rest of your mind, that should have been all that it did. And yet everything around us changed. I think the images appearing on that circular... thing may be memories."

"But I don't understand," the boy complained. "The other memories we looked at before didn't show on a screen like that. It was more like walking through scenes in a play where the actors couldn't see us. Why is this different."

The images seemed to flash and flicker almost faster than the mind could grasp them. But then one image lingered longer than the rest. The Moon cat recognized the Moon Palace. This was not as the Palace would look today, a ruin on a gray, dusty plain. This was the Palace back in its heyday, vibrant and alive with lights and activity.

These weren't memories of Ranma's current life. They had to be memories of her previous life as Princess Serena Serenity. The reason why they were showing on the "screen" had to be because they were from a past life and not living memory. The memories were constrained, bound behind a barrier to prevent them from intruding onto Ranma's current life.

Luna was not conscious of moving forward, but now found herself kneeling in front of the round barrier to Ranma's memories of his past life. She was close enough to touch the barrier.

If the memories stayed this way all of the time, Ranma would likely never be able to retrieve more than the briefest flashes of past memories. Perhaps through the use of hard concentration and meditation he might be able to get partial control of the speed at which the images went by, but that would only allow recovery of a few small fragments of that past lifetime.

Then an image flashed that Luna recognized easily. "Is that me?" she asked. It was without conscious thought that the currently human shaped mental projection of the Moon cat stretched out her hand and touched the barrier. She couldn't have said what she had expected when she touched it, but it didn't feel hard like the glass or plastic of television screen or computer monitor. It was soft and oddly yielding to the touch.

Driven more by curiosity than anything, Luna pressed on the memory "screen." The surface indented and then seemed to develop cracks or tears. Now alarmed, the Mau pulled her hand back. The cracks spread from the point of the former contact in a spider web-like pattern.

Luna scrambled to her feet and turned to look at Ranma. With an expression near to panic the Mau stuttered, "I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean..." she started to say. What she had intended to say went unfinished as the screen bulged out and then shattered, fragments of whatever substance it had been made of flying. The images seemed to escape from their confinement and there came a flash of light. In that moment Luna's mental projection was ejected from Ranma's mind and the cat found herself back in her own body, trying to shake off the disorientation of the experience.

Author's Note: It seems that every fanfic author I've read is always apologizing for the length of time it has been since their last update. I join those others in making a similar apology. In my defense I should mention that the main reason was because I got an idea for a new story stuck in my head and couldn't get it out until I had written it down. Then in a minor orgy of unbridled creativity I turned the idea into a 200 page long rough draft.

Before I could get back to the stories I've been posing on I had more ideas. In the time since I last posted on any of my stories, I've written a 200+ page lemon story, another 240 page draft of another, and a 100+ pages of draft and outline of a story where Ranma gets mixed girl and tiger curses, making his cursed form a tiger cat girl. I've read people give the opinion that you can't go wrong with cat girls.

In this story the events inside Ranma's mind meld with Luna have been substantially re-written to give them more impact. In the first draft that part had seemed rushed to me and unsatisfactory. I hope you like how it reads now.


	4. Chapter 3 Memories of Time Long Past

1/2 Moon

A Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon Crossover Fan Fiction

By Michael A. Ivins

What was that? You say I don't own Ranma or Sailor Moon? Are you sure?

Oh, all right! If you insist! I'm just a fanfic writer playing around with other people's characters. There, I said it! Are you happy?

Timeline: This is after the failed wedding. Ranma has left Nerima and moved in with his mother in Juuban. He is attending Juuban High School as a girl. This is right at the very beginning of the Sailor Moon story.

Chapter 3

Memories of Times Long Past

In Ranma's bedroom Luna found herself back in her body after being in a mind meld and projected inside the boy's mind. The boy lay on the bed, twitching in reaction from what the Moon Cat had done.

The cat was truly alarmed. She wasn't sure what it was she had done because her memory on how to perform mind melds was flawed. After causing the spirit of the cat-fist to disperse itself into the background of Ranma's mind, Luna's projected image had felt drawn to what seemed to be a representation of the boy's memories of his past life in the Silver Millennium.

The manifestation had taken the form of a round glass screen that had been set into the side of a mound on the ground of Ranma's mental dreamscape. When she had spotted a memory of her earlier self, she had touched the barrier and, it had unexpectedly ruptured. The resultant flood of memories had slammed into the cat's mental probe and pushed her out.

The distraught Moon Cat was in a near panic, worrying what was now happening inside the mind of the boy who had to be the reincarnated Sailor Moon.

Inside Ranma's mind the memories surged forth, all of them. There were too many memories to process all of them right away, but a few flashes were more prominent than others.

FLASH

The process of being born was a seriously trying experience. After months of soothing warmth and darkness with soft sounds filtering in from outside, there had been bright lights that blinded and sounds that seemed to deafen. And there were giants in this strange new world she had been thrust into.

The comforting pulsing had not known was her mother's heart was now missing. She had cried over the injustice of being dragged out of the womb into this cold, harsh place. She had been bathed and dried and then wrapped in cloths, but not knowing what they were called.

She had been placed on a padded surface in some kind of enclosure that was surrounded by bars. At least it was open at the top. The baby girl fussed until a face loomed over her.

The face was really beautiful and belonged to a woman with long silver hair that streamed out in two long tails to the sides. There was a loving smile on her face as the woman gazed down on her daughter. The little girl in the crib stopped fussing and looked on the face above her. Who was this person and why did the baby feel so warm and protected by her presence?

The woman spoke, "As required by family tradition, I declare that you are Princess Serenity. Your name to friends and family will be Serena. At such time as you take the throne, you will be Queen Serenity the tenth."

Even though she could not yet understand the words being spoken, the little girl remembered them. There was a bond she shared with this woman. She didn't know what it meant, but she did know that it felt good being near her.

A knock came on the door and the silver haired woman turned away from her new daughter. The child looked through the bars of her crib and could see a tall, gray haired man come in through the door.

"My Queen, may I speak with you?"

The silver haired woman acknowledged and the man said, "I have news I thought you should know."

"What is the news?"

"In our examination of your daughter we found that she is the possessor of a Senshi Star Seed," the man reported.

The queen frowned on hearing that. "How is that possible? To my knowledge there has never been a Senshi in the Serenity royal line."

"I do not know, your majesty." The doctor continued, "All I can say is that the results of the examination leave no room for doubt."

The queen began pacing back and forth. The girl in the crib took notice and wondered what was bothering the nice lady.

Finally the queen stopped pacing and stated, "With the political situation on Earth, there is no way the nations down there would accept my daughter as Sailor Terra."

She let out a short bitter laugh. "It's ironic. Those squabbling nations can't reach a consensus on picking their own girl to be Sailor Terra, yet I have no doubt they would band solidly together to oppose my daughter being given that position."

"What will you do?" asked the doctor.

Her expression changing to one of satisfaction, the queen stated, "When she is old enough and has completed her training, Serena will become Sailor Moon."

Puzzled, the doctor pointed out, "In the history of the Moon Kingdom there has never been a Senshi of a moon that didn't have one for the planet that it orbits. In purely practical terms, how would that work."

The queen explained, "At times in the past, a planet Senshi could assign a portion of her power to a lesser Senshi, representing one of the moons of her planet. That is how Sailors Ganymede, Callisto, Titan and the other moon Senshi came about."

The woman walked over to the crib and held her hand out and baby Serena obligingly reached up and grabbed one of her mother's fingers in her tiny hand. With a warm smile on her face, the queen went on, "In truth we would _call_ my daughter Sailor Moon, but with no Senshi of Earth, she would be the Senshi for both."

"As earth is the only planet in the system that is livable without the need of magical constructs, the power available to the Senshi of that world would be greater than that of most other worlds. Saturn would be the only exception."

"But what would happen if the nations of earth could put aside their differences long enough to pick a Senshi for the Earth?" The doctor wanted to know.

"Then Serena's power would diminish," was the queen's simple answer. "That is why we must not tell the nations of Earth about this. When I am raising her, she will be given the training of a Senshi, but she will not openly proclaim herself to be Sailor Moon unless there is great need of her power."

The doctor nodded. It seemed to be a workable plan, but could come to failure if the nations of Earth could just come to a consensus. It would be interesting to see how the matter played out.

FLASH

At five years old young Princess "Serena" Serenity was seated on the balcony of the Moon Palace. Her mother, Queen "Selene" Serenity sat beside her. It was one of the rare quiet moments that come in the busy life of a queen.

The two were looking up at the bright blue disk of the earth. The position of the moon today was showing the Earth in almost full phase. The platinum blonde queen pointed and said, "Do you see that land mass in the middle?"

Remembering her lessons, the little girl asked, "That's Atlantis, right Mommy?" She felt pleased with herself that she remembered.

"That's right Serena, dear," the queen agreed with a smile. She was proud that her daughter was already learning so much. "That is the land that is ruled by King Endymion. He has a son who is also named Endymion. Young Endymion is just a little older than you are."

"Am I ever going to get to visit the Earth?" the little girl wanted to know.

"Eventually," the queen assured her daughter. "You will get to visit most of the other planet kingdoms."

The blonde girl frowned in thought before asking, "We can't see Lemuria right now because it's on the other side, right?"

"Yes, dear." The queen pointed and said, "To the right and down from Atlantis is the Kingdom of Kush. You can't really see it right now because it is covered with clouds."

"I know what that means," little Serena exclaimed, looking excited. "There's bad weather there. It's probably raining and maybe a big storm."

"Clouds don't always mean a storm, love," the queen clarified. She was pleased with how well her daughter was her lessons in school.

FLASH

The six year old Serena had been walking quickly away from the throne room bearing a small burden. The squirming bundle of the black Moon Cat demanded, "Serena, put me down!"

Reluctantly Serena set down the squirming form of the moon cat she had been carrying. "Luna! Why don't you want to play with me?"

The black Mau shook herself to straighten her fur and then sat in her most dignified pose. She liked the princess, but didn't have time to waste on play. "I'm sorry Serena, but I am the advisor to the Queen. I have important duties. I cannot spend time playing with you. If you want me to help you with your lessons, I believe I can find time for that."

The little girl stuck her tongue out, then complained, "You aren't any fun."

Another voice spoke, "I'll play with you."

Serena and Luna both turned and found another moon cat just down the corridor from their position. This one was larger than Luna with creamy brown fur on her body and darker brown fur on tail, paws and forming a mask that covered her face and ears. There was the normal crescent moon symbol marking the forehead of this cat.

"Bubastis?" Luna said as she recognized the cat in the hall. The other moon cat was a mere kitten by Mau standards, barely two decades old. She had yet to learn to behave in a properly dignified manner as befitted an advisor to royalty. Still, she might be suitable as the playmate of a royal child.

The little blonde haired girl knelt down to put her closer to the new cat's level. She introduced herself, "Hello. I don't think I've met you. I'm Serena."

The lean, elegant looking cat bent her front legs and lowered her head in a bow. "It is a pleasure to meet you, highness. The other Mau say I'm too young to take a 'serious' job. I've been getting bored with all of the things they're trying to teach me."

The princess's eyes lit up. "I'm bored too. Come on, lets have some fun!" She ran down the hall and the larger moon cat ran after her. Luna shook her head and wondered if this was really a good thing.

FLASH

Still six years old, Serena was introduced to Tragis one of the instructors for the Royal Guards.

Dressed in an outfit that resembled a martial arts gi, but was made of much finer cloth and gave even better freedom of movement, Serena swung a kick into the pad her teacher was holding.

Although she was still small, the kick had a good deal of power in it. "Again," he ordered. And the little girl kicked into the pad. At this point they were in the drill aspect of training. The idea was to repeat certain motions so often that they became ingrained in muscle memory. If or when it came time to use the training, little thought needed to be devoted to how to perform the move, just which moves to use.

After more of this, Tragis finally said, "That is enough for today, Princess. You may go bathe and then get on to your other studies."

The little girl assumed an erect posture and placed her right fist into her left palm and gave the sensei a formal bow. He returned that bow then waved his hand to dismiss her.

Serena had a aptitude for fighting seldom seen. She had gotten off to a shaky start due to poor coordination, but some special exercises had corrected those faults. Once she learned to move gracefully, her training had begun to progress at a rapid pace.

Although she hadn't been told the purpose of this training, she was learning what she would need to be a Senshi. Besides that it was deemed prudent for members of the royal family to be able to defend themselves. One could not always count on bodyguards being present.

FLASH

Seven year old Serena was in class along with several other students. These children were all the offspring of members of the Lunar Court. The subject for the moment dealt with the Sailor Senshi.

One of the other students in the class asked, "If the Senshi are soldiers, why do they wear those silly outfits?"

The teacher fixed the inquiring student with a piercing gaze. "The Senshi fuku is not 'silly.' The basic part of the uniform that is common to all Senshi is a leotard that gives the soldier full range of motion. The fabric of the suit possesses armor like qualities that protect the body."

The little girl who had asked the question was not intimidated by the teacher's look. She pressed, "But if the suit gives armor protection, why leave the arms and legs bare? Doesn't that make them vulnerable?"

The teacher now smiled. That was a slightly more intelligent question. "You might think so, but that is not the case. The uniform has magic that extends invisible protection to the arms, legs and head of the Senshi. That protection is equal to that granted by the suit itself. The Senshi transformation itself not only grants magical attacks and enhanced strength, but makes each of the Senshi tougher against damage."

"As for the decorative touches, that is a secret that is not been given to the public. The unique color of the outfits are indicative of the planet or moon of the Senshi's power source.

Spotting a raised hand, the Teacher called out, "Yes, Serena."

"Why is there no Senshi of Earth?" the princess asked.

The tutor explained, "The problem is that Earth is not a unified world. Of all the inhabited worlds of the Moon Kingdom, the Earth is the only one that has separate nations. Because of the nature of the magic there can be only one Senshi for each planet. Unfortunately, the nations of the Earth cannot agree on which of them Sailor Terra should come from. Each wants her to come from their own nation and none wants her representing any of the others."

"So they don't have a Senshi of Earth because they can't agree on who it is to be?" Serena summed up.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," the teacher confirmed. "Complicating the picture, is the fact that candidates for Senshi of Earth are few. It takes a rare individual to become a Senshi. The only candidates now on Earth who have the necessary qualities, hold political views that are strongly opposed by all nations outside their own."

Sadly shaking her head, "I'm sorry to say that it is unlikely there will be a Sailor Terra until a new possessor of a Senshi Star Seed is born. Such a child would have to be raised by a coalition group including representatives from all the major nations so that she would be free any regional prejudices. It was agreed that the Senshi of Earth must act for the good of the whole planet, not just one region or another."

FLASH

The eight year old Moon Princess was taking a tour. Part of her responsibilities as princess included knowing about how the environment of the moon was maintained and defended. The destination this morning was the massive computer complex known as the Eternity Mainframe. It was just part of the massive collection of underground chambers that the Moon Palace boasted.

They stood now in the main core of the complex that was located beneath the palace. To use what many considered an oddly Earth based metaphor, the Palace was merely the "tip of the iceberg." The underground complex of which the computer was a small part, occupied ten times the space of the palace itself.

For all the grandeur of many of the chambers, the central core of the computer was deceptively simple and even plain in appearance. It looked a little like an office with desks, each of which was supplied with a computer terminal and a crew of operators at work. In truth the computer was quite capable of running itself, but the workers were there to monitor the various systems under the control of the Eternity Mainframe.

Today Serena was being taken to be "introduced" to artificial intelligence that ran the main system. At the front of the room there was a large comfortable chair. The little blonde girl walked up and hopped into the chair. It was plainly intended for an adult, because her feet couldn't reach all the way to the floor while sitting in it.

Once the little girl was in position the Chief Technician called out, "Activate voice interface."

"_**Voice**_ _**Interface active**_," the pleasant, synthesized voice replied. It was a woman's voice that was an amalgam of several different people and therefore did not match any specific individual.

"Recognize Chief Technician Garmain," the technician commanded.

The computer scanned. It had far more reliable methods of determining identity than just image, voice or even DNA. All such things could, and at times in the past, had been faked. Using the combination of magic and technology, the Eternity Mainframe was able to scan the very soul of the person presenting himself.

"_**Identity verified**_," the computer stated. Then in less stilted tones it said, "_**It has been a while since we've talked, Garmain. How can I help you today?**_"

The Chief Technician smiled before saying, "I regret we won't have a chance to socialize right now. We have an important task to complete today. Please scan the person now seated in the chair."

"_**Scanning**_," the computer replied. A short while later it announced, "_**Scan complete. Is this Serena, Selene's daughter? My goodness, if weren't for the color of your hair, you would look almost like a younger copy of your mother.**_"

Feeling slightly intimidated by the reputedly vast intelligence of the computer speaking to her, Serena replied, "Yes ma'am, Miss Eternity. I'm Serena."

Garmain added, "I confirm that." The confirmation was not needed. The computer had scanned the girl one day after her birth, when the queen had first presented her child. The parameters of her soul were on record.

"_**Greetings child**_," the computer responded, it's tone sounding warm and friendly. Then more formally, it announced, "_**Recognizing Princess Serena Serenity. Per the instructions of Queen Selene, you are granted full override authority. You will also be granted access codes for remote access from any terminal or mobile computer**_."

Serena got up from the chair and bowed. "Thank you Miss Eternity. I will try to live up to the responsibility you have given me."

Before Serena could speak more to the computer, Luna came forward and proclaimed, "Very good! We can't dawdle here. We have a lot more things to see, so we must continue the tour."

The little girl cast a sour look at the royal advisor but went to join her. She wished she had her playmate, Bubastis with her. Boo was a lot more fun, but the cat had begged off on the tour, saying it would be just too boring.

The tour included power systems, maintenance, weapons and many others. Each visit was accompanied by a boringly detailed lecture on the functioning of the machinery they viewed. Serena couldn't even take refuge in feigning interest while thinking of other things, because she knew she would be quizzed on this stuff later to be sure she had understood all of it.

FLASH

The nine year old Princess Serena was with her mother and carrying her friend, Bubastis, the Mau. They had just teleported in to a strange place. It was really spooky looking. She and her mother were walking on a firm, solid floor that was covered in mist. The few times there were gaps in the mist the floor could be seen to be some kind of polished black material. The misty floor seemed to go on forever. Above there seemed to be nothing but black obscurity and yet there was still light.

Not far from where they stood they could see a framework that appeared to made of wood and metal. Opening off of that framework were two doors. Both frame and doors were marked in odd symbols that the princess was unable to recognize.

These were the legendary Gates of Time. Between the visitors and the Gates stood a tall woman with long green hair and red eyes. The woman wore the fuku of a Sailor Senshi with her skirt colored black, the bows purple.

The Guardian of the Gates of time didn't like having visitors, but she couldn't very well tell the Queen to go away. She was even less pleased to have a child and an immature Mau visiting.

Still she hid her displeasure as best she could. She bowed in a manner that she felt was gracious and proclaimed, "Greetings to you, my queen and to princess Serena as well. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

Selene gave a polite bow of her head and replied, "I felt that we had reached a point in Serena's education that it was time she visited the Gates of Time. She has visited the castles of all of the other Planet Senshi and before we went to your castle, I wanted her to see the Gates."

"I see," the Princess of Pluto replied. "Well, I am afraid there is not much going on here at the moment. I just completed some observations into the past at the request of the Royal College of Historians. There was a dispute on precisely how a certain crisis was resolved during the reign of Serenity the first. They asked if I could settle the dispute."

"That's quite alright," Selene said in her calm manner. "Besides coming to see the Gates, I felt it was time for the Computer that controls the gates to scan Serena and load her information into its memory like your mother did with me."

"What?" Pluto was not happy with that. While Pluto was the chosen Guardian of the Gates, it was recognized that the life of a Senshi was hazardous. If Pluto were to die, the queen could operate the computer that controlled the gates. By scanning the princess and loading her information into memory, that would mean that Serena could also take control of the Gates.

The purpose was said to be so that the queen or her chosen heir could pick a successor if there were no living Sailor Pluto to pass on the Time Key Staff.

FLASH

In secluded part of the palace, away from prying eyes, fourteen year old Serena and her mother stood in one of the practice training rooms. The blonde girl didn't know the exact reason for their being here, but she had suspicions.

When the queen finished setting the controls that sealed the room from outside surveillance, she turned and produced a velvet covered box. This she presented to her daughter.

After opening the box, Serena found a golden broach. It looked like something she had seen in pictures but had never had it in front of her. She looked up from this to gaze upon her mother's face and then asked, "Is this...?"

"Yes, my daughter."

Taking brooch from the box, she set the box on the floor and pinned the jewel to her blouse. When it was properly affixed she touched the thumbs and index fingers of each hand to the sides of the broach and in firm tones, proclaimed, "Moon Prism Power, Makeup!"

For the first time in the history of the moon kingdom, a girl of the moon's royal family experienced the transformation. Bands of light swirled around her as her clothing vanished and then ribbons of light wrapped around her and transformed into new garments. At the same time she felt power surging through her, strengthening her, empowering her. While she had never experienced anything like this before she had heard of it in written accounts and the tales of Senshi.

For the first time Sailor Moon stood ready to fight for love and Justice. Even if the costume looked silly, Serena felt a fierce pride in being selected to wear it.

It was too bad that the political situation with Earth would not allow Serena to openly declare her status as a Senshi. Sailor Moon's power would need to be held in reserve against possible future problems.

FLASH

A fifteen year old Serena awoke to find herself snuggled up to another girl. A moment of confusion quickly gave way to memory of the previous night. Now she knew why she was sharing a bed with the Senshi of Mars. Her nude body was currently spooned up against the nude body of her lover.

The blonde Princess of the Moon rubbed her hand lightly over the abdomen of the other girl, loving the feel of her skin. The stimulation of her touch was enough to bring a moan from the raven haired beauty.

"Uh!" the older girl grunted. There was a hint of pain in her voice as she begged to know, "What was in that punch we drank at the party?"

Chuckling softly, Serena bent over and spoke softly into Mars' ear, "I don't know, but I sort of like the results."

Becoming aware of the naked girl nuzzling at her neck, the Senshi of Mars groaned. "We didn't, did we?"

Kissing her lover's ear, Serena whispered, "We certainly did."

"Your mom is going to kill me when she finds out," Princess Reina said in resigned tones.

The Moon Princess chuckled softly and retorted, "Who says she's going to find out?"

The raven haired girl froze for a moment in astonishment. "Do you mean you're not going to tell her?"

Laughing again the blonde asked, "Why would I do a thing like that, Reina? If you're dead we wouldn't be able to do that again."

The older girl moved away from the princess and turned to lie facing her. "You want to do it again?"

"Pleeeease." The dreaded puppy dog eyes of persuasion (TM) were strongly in evidence.

Reina studied the face so close to hers. She had always thought the princess was adorable and sexy. After studying that face for a little while longer, Sailor Mars finally said, "Well, the queen can only kill me once." She moved in to kiss the blonde.

FLASH

It was the ball celebrating Serena Serenity's 16th birthday. Everyone who was anyone in the Moon Kingdom had come. Even the somewhat reclusive Sailor Pluto had showed up. So many people were there that the Grand Ballroom was strained to contain them all.

In the receiving line, Serena, the Queen and several of the higher level nobles of the Moon Kingdom stood, to greet the visitors. Because of the large number of people who passed in front her that day, the majority of them were a blur. The Princess would have found it difficult to put names to faces later.

The Princess was dressed in her finest white gown and her hair was done up in her preferred style. Two meatball-sized odangoes were on each side of her head with ornaments on the front, long blonde hair in twin pony tails reached almost to the floor on both sides.

Serena was feeling a trifle sad. Reina, the Princess and Senshi of Mars had been required to return to her home world. As a princess herself, Serena recognized the necessity of such things, but she missed her lover. That was a major part of her reason for being so absent minded as she greeted her party guests.

But then there was a difference. A man garbed in a black tuxedo stepped up to her and bowed, taking her hand to kiss it. "I am Endymion, prince of the Kingdom of Atlantis," he proclaimed.

While mouthing polite niceties, the princess was struck by what she saw. The man was tall, handsome and well mannered. She had been hearing about this young man nearly all of her life and this was her first time meeting him. He was dreamy! She definitely wanted to get to know this man better!

Likely he wouldn't be an adequate replacement for Reina, but she would have to find out. She wasn't familiar with the phrase "being on the rebound" but would have recognized the concept if she had heard of it.

FLASH

Ten months had passed since Serena's 16th birthday. A lot had happened in that time. She had grown closer to Endymion than she had believed possible. Her mom and the King of Atlantis were talking marriage.

Alas, it was not meant to be. An enemy had come from an unexpected direction and a war had been fought. It had been a losing war for the forces of the Moon Kingdom. What was likely the final battle had been waged mere hours ago.

The bombardment had stopped. Relative peace was restored to the Throne Room of Moon Palace. There was a faint haze of smoke in the air from burning furniture here and there. The crackle of flames were almost the only sounds audible. The air conditioning had shut down and power was out other than emergency lights. Some distance away there was a crash that could be heard as a damaged section of wall finally surrendered to gravity.

Princess Serena Serenity didn't know who had won the final battle, but likely it wouldn't matter all that much to her at the moment. She lay still with her legs pinned by debris that had fallen from the ceiling. She couldn't feel her legs beneath the rubble. It seemed likely she had broken ribs pressing against her lungs because each breath was searing agony. Consequently, she tried to keep her breathing light and shallow. From her training, she knew that unless she received medical attention or magic healing soon, she was going to die.

Most, if not all of the palace staff were probably already dead. It would have to be so, or somebody would have come to the throne room and found her by now. Before a portion of the ceiling had collapsed on her, she had seen some of the courtiers lying in unnatural seeming positions around the room. She had managed to push some of the debris off her face and upper torso, but lacked the strength to shift the material that pinned her legs.

She had tried to draw her transformation broach from her subspace pocket, but was not able to bring it forth. Was she too badly injured for even the healing power of a Sailor Senshi? Or was the pain she felt disorienting her too much to focus on retrieving the artifact?

There was only one other thing she could try. One of the facets of her combat training dealt with channeling her internal life energies. While not so good as magic healing, it could be used to accelerate natural healing when no magic was available. She had a hard time focusing her will to assert the necessary control of her energies.

Before she could proceed further, the girl felt a hand grasping her own and opened her eyes. When she looked to see the owner of the hand, she found the face of her mother, the queen. Through tears in her clothing it could be seen that the platinum blonde had several small wounds and looked deeply fatigued and haggard. While some of her wounds showed clotted blood, her efforts to move about had opened some of those wounds. There was a trail of smeared blood on the floor that showed where the Queen had dragged herself across the floor to lie on the floor next to Serena.

Serena opened her mouth, but stopped when she felt fingers on her lips. The Queen's voice was raspy, as if she had inhaled fumes that irritated her throat. "Don't try... to talk Serena. I can see how badly... hurt you are. I just wanted you to know that Beryl didn't win. I... we lacked the power to destroy her, so I sealed her, her patron Metallia and all of her youma away into a pocket universe. While I hope they will remain sealed up until they die of starvation, I can't... count on it."

"It will take thousands of years for the seals on her prison to weaken enough for her to be able to touch the worlds again. To fight her when she is finally able to escape, I have cast spells to send the souls of the Senshi along with Endymion, the Earth Knight, into the future to be reborn in time to take up the power again."

It was with some apparent effort that the queen went on, "I put all of the Mau advisors I could find into stasis capsules and sent them to Earth. I sent Sailor Pluto to the Gates of Time to guard the time stream and to prepare for the rebirth of the other Senshi."

"You are the last, my daughter." The queen's eyes closed. Had she gone to sleep? Serena squeezed the hand that gripped hers. It was a weak squeeze, but it was enough to bring the queen back to full wakefulness. From what Serena could see, it looked like the queen was driving herself with little more than determination and will power. "I am nearly at the end of my... strength. I have not the power to heal your wounds nor the strength in my body to move the debris off of you. I have just enough strength left to cast the spell to send your soul to the future."

Selene's body was suddenly wracked by hard, rasping coughs. When she could speak again, the queen said, "I'm almost out of time... my beloved daughter. I regret... that I never got the chance to see you fight as Sailor Moon. As the Princess... the task will fall to you to lead the rest of the Senshi after you are reborn. I know you will make me... proud."

The last thing Serena saw was her mother reciting the words of the spell. Her strength was deserting her. It was becoming too painful to breathe and she closed her eyes again. As her awareness faded for the last time, she could still hear the murmur of her mother voice as she cast her spell.

FLASH

With that final flash, Ranma was back in his own body and mind. That mind was swarming with the memories of a past life. The boy moaned and pressed both hands to the sides of his head in obvious pain. "Oh Crap!" he exclaimed. "Was that... supposed to happen?"

Confused, the cat fearfully asked, "I... I don't know, what _did_ happen?"

"Luna... I don't how you did it... but I just got... my past life memories... _all_ of them," Ranma groaned. "16... almost 17 years... worth of memories... _crammed_ into my head... all at once... Feels like... my head's gonna explode."

There was a knock at the door and Luna dived under the bed to hide. When Ranma called out, "Come in," Nodoka stepped in to see her son lying on the bed with a pained expression on his face. "Are you alright, Ranma? I heard what sounded like moans of pain. Are you alright?"

"No... Not alright," he ground out, needing to pause to take a breath between phrases. "I did... meditation... think it worked... I'm pretty sure... I'm over the nekoken... but the side effect... It feels like my head... going to split open... Do you have any... _really_ strong pain killers?"

"I have some prescription pain medication left over from when I sprained my ankle last year." Nodoka looked worried. "I healed up faster than expected, so I still have a few pills."

"Good... I... need one," the boy begged.

The older woman left and came back in a few minutes with a pill and a glass of water. Ranma gulped the pill and took a sip of water to wash it down. "Thanks Mom... I think... I need to sleep... Right now... I don't think... I can do much else."

Concern clear in her voice, Nodoka suggested, "If you feel that bad, maybe you should stay home from school tomorrow."

"You... could be right," Ranma admitted. "Would you... call the school... in the morning?"

"I'll call them from work," the older woman promised.

"Thanks," the boy answered then used the rest of the water in the glass to change into girl form. She used a towel she kept in her room to dry her face and hair and then got up from the bed and lurched down the hall to the toilet.

When Ranma returned to the bedroom, Nodoka had left but Luna had stayed. The Moon cat asked, "Why did you change back to a girl?" She noticed that Ranma was looking at her and not acting afraid.

The red haired girl pressed her hand onto her forehead and groaned. "Do you mind... if I explain... in the morning? I need sleep."

"Alright," the cat agreed. She watched as the girl undressed and put on boxer shorts and a tank top. She got onto the bed and pulled the blankets over her. After lying with a pained frown on her face for a little while her features smoothed out and her breathing began to exhibit the deep slow rhythms of sleep. The medication her mother had given her had done its work.

Luna studied the face of the girl on the bed. In the silver millennium Serena had been fit from her martial arts training, but she would have looked soft next to Ranma's girl form. Serena had been a blonde who had worn her hair with odangoes and long pony tails on each side of her head. She had worn the ponytails so long that they nearly touched the floor. By comparison, Ranma's braided pigtail was shorter, but a much more practical style.

The cat was confused. Due to the holes in her own memory she couldn't be sure of much about her new charge. She remembered Serena and that the girl had been in the palace, but for the moment she couldn't remember much else.

The memory download was worrying. How would having 17 years worth of past life memories added to her own 18 years of current memories affect Ranma's personality? Because all of that past life had been lived as a girl, it seemed a safe bet that Ranma's feelings about her male form would likely change. Would she be able to achieve a more balanced attitude about it than she'd had before? Time would tell.

Author Notes: I've seen all of the anime of Sailor Moon (except the movies,) but haven't read all of the manga. I don't remember seeing in the anime where anyone ever made a point of whether or not there was a Sailor Moon back in the Silver Millennium. I do remember reading in fan fictions where the authors did say there never was. I thought I would address that with Ranma's flashbacks to his memories of being the Moon Princess. It also explains why there is no Sailor Terra.

I would welcome ideas for other things to include in memory flashes from the Silver Millennium life of Princess "Serena" Serenity. One reader of this chapter when I had posted it on my blog suggested a lemon based on Serena's affair with Reina, the Senshi of Mars. I wasn't planning to write one myself, but if anyone out there would like, feel free to write one of your own. I'd be happy to post it on my blog. BTW my blog is back online. I haven't had much chance to post much on it yet, but will be working on getting chapters of my newest stories ready.

I hope I was able to make it clear in this revised version of the chapter that "Serena" looks like Usagi in canon SM, not like Ranma's girl form. If Serena in the Silver Millennium had looked like Ranma, Setsuna would have recognized Ranma when she enrolled in Juuban High School. The reason she looks different in the present is because the Queen was near death and made small mistakes in the spell to send her daughter's soul to the future. The rest of the Senshi look like they did in their past lives, Ranma doesn't.

I don't recommend that anyone should take medicine that was prescribed for someone else. That can lead to unforeseen problems. Remember this is a work of fiction, so I'll put in the disclaimer (Like on TV) "Don't try this at home."


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